OK, this is probably a really dumb question, but I've looked around a bit and I can't find a plain English answer. What are the technical specifications that I realistically should have in a computer if I want to be able to play Neverwinter Nights 2 comfortably?

From what I recall... the recommended requirements are basically:

-3.0GHz proc +
-1 GB RAM +
-For video, I'm pretty sure I remember reading that a GeForce 6800 or better would be able to run the highest graphics settings/resolutions without problem.
-I think I remember reading that something in the neighborhood of 7-8GB of hard drive space was needed.

I'll poke around a bit and see if I can't find some better minimum requirements, but I think the bottom line is that you need a relatively high end machine to run this game comfortably.

Edit - Here are the minimum specs:
2.4 GHz, ½ gig of RAM, Radeon 95, and Pixel Shader.

This was taken from the following page, which you may (or may not) find interesting:
http://pc.rpgsite.net/previews/60/40.html

Or you can just read the specific excerpt:
But the real question on everyone's mind is "Will the graphics obliterate my computer?" At least three or four people (myself included) in the Q&A line wanted to know the same thing, and when it was asked, they all stepped out of line. Even when the Obsidian team was loading up previews, their computer flickered every few moments. The loading screens in NWN2 were as long as the ones in NWN and sometimes seemed to freeze. In response to this, Obsidian did acknowledge that more than decent system would be necessary to play the highest graphics setting. However, in NWN2, there are more options to turn down the graphics. Not just a low/medium/high setting, but to turn off individual features, for example, the texturing on the field, to improve gameplay. The recommended minimum specs at this time are 2.4 GHz, ½ gig of RAM, Radeon 95, and Pixel Shader.

[ August 19, 2006, 07:13: Message edited by: Marceror ]

Thanks. Hmm, I wonder it will cost to get a machine like that. Better start saving hard now. Might take a year to save up that much money!

This is more accurate:

http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/27/1765.html

I'll get it on SP with the upcoming site update.

So could this PC, for example, play NWN2 comfortably? I don't understand all the terms, but if this one can play it, then I would use these details and price as a benchmark for others I might look at.

Dell Dimension(TM) 9150 Pentium(R)D 945 w/Dual Core Desktop

Dimension(TM) 9150 Intel(R) Pentium(R) D 950 with Dual Core Processing (3.4GHz, 2X2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB) Intel(R) 945P Chipset

Operating System Genuine Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 1

Genuine Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 (English) Media

Memory 1GB (2X512) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Memory 1

Video Card 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 nVidia(R) GeForce(TM) 7300LE TurboCache(TM) w/TV-Out,VGA&DVI 1

Display 19" UltraSharp(TM) Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog & DVI) 1

Hard Drive 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with Native Command Queuing 1

Optical Drives 16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities 1

Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio 1

Speakers Dell(TM) A525 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer (ANZ) 1

Change the operating system to Windows XP (preferrably Pro, but Home will do as well), and get a better graphics card (GeForce 7600GT or better) and you'll be set for a couple of years.

My only other recommendation, if you can work it out, is to shoot for 2GB of system RAM.

Yea, though that is also easy enough to stick in later, if shelling out so much money at once is an issue.

get a better graphics card I don't understand any of the numbers on the graphics card stats. Is it simple enough to say that the higher the number the better?

As far as Nvidia GeForce cards go, yes. However, you often have a weaker and a stronger card with the same number. So after the number itself, the model mark comes into play as well. With newer GeForce cards you have GS and GT. GS is the weaker card.

Whenever in doubt, the cheaper one is the weaker one.

Cool - thanks for the advice. It is about NZ$2,300 for the system I initially described. I thought I already had chosen the best graphics card available but if I choose I better card and 2gb of SDRAM, that takes the price to almost NZ$3,000.

Is it better to have 2gb of SDRAM at 533mhz or 1gb at 667mhz?

If those were my options, I'd go with more slightly slower RAM, rather than less slightly faster RAM.

With more RAM your system is simply able to handle more. Less RAM is more likely to fill up, forcing you to rely more on virtual memory, a lot more overhead for page swapping, and suddenly that faster RAM isn't giving you any benefit, because overall your system performance is slower.

With a game like NWN2, your going to want all the RAM you can get, I'm sure.

OK, next question - do I need to spend NZ$400 on a "physics accelerator"? It claims to improve gameplay, even though it sounds like some sort of nuclear power device.

Also - what is the difference between a Pentium D945 and a Pentium D950? The 950 costs NZ$142 more.

You're buying a new computer? Any reason you don't want to go with the new Core 2 processors instead of the Pentium D since you are looking at Intel?

Anyway, a physics processor would be a complete waste of your money at this time. Almost no games support it, and the ones that do give up frame rates for just a little more eye candy. Not even close to worth the price of admission as I understand it.

The only difference that I am aware of between the Pentium D 945 and 950 is that the 945 does not have Intel's Virtualization technology in it. Probably not something that you care about.

Any reason you don't want to go with the new Core 2 processors instead of the Pentium D since you are looking at Intel? Because:
a) I don't know what that means.
b) It is not on the list of optional extras for a Dell build.

Hm. Are you in a hurry to get your computer now? The new Intel Core 2 Duo processors (E6XXX model numbers) came out at the end of last month, and are completely superior to the Pentium D's in both speed and power consumption.

I would expect Dell to start building them into their computers soon, so if you're not in a rush, my advice would be to wait.

Oh, there's no rush. Especially if it will cost $3000 to get all the specs you guys are saying are essential. It would take months and months to save up anything like that and that would include calling in contributions from people at Christmas time.

Hmm (boasting) Just build an amd am2 64 3500 in a plexiglass case, just to be sure. It glows in the dark an gives standing space for my best D&D miniatures. O yeah, it has an ati x1600xt and 1 gig(for now) ddr2 800 mem. 800 euro with an legal win xp. (Not including blood sweat and tears.) Not the best, but it will run everyting.

OTOH, I am not sure how good an idea is to spend money for the fastest processor available. I don't think there is much difference in performance between a 2.8 GHz processor and a 3.4 GHz one; the difference in price might be significant, though.

Actually, for basically the same system Harbourboy has above, but with a Pentium D Processor 820 at 2.80 GHz, Dell wants from me about $1000 (USD). Which is reasonable.

As a rule, I never buy the fastest processor on the market. I always stay somewhat behind the curve, because the amount of money saved for the slight degradation in processing power is generally significant, as khaavern points out above.

That is what I was thinking. I am hardly a cutting edge early adopter. I don't want to pay the huge premium that is usually associated with having the newest fastest system. I'll take the lowest spec system that can easily play NWN2.

Someone just bought me an Acer computer and it was only $1000 (AusD) and it runs the latest games pretty well, even with not a lot of modifications added to it. Although I suspect I'm going to need to shell out some more to play NWN2 arent I?

I was thinking of buying a new computer anyway. Can anyone recommend the top of the line?

Geeze Harby, I didn't think that you were going to be willing to drop $2500 to $3000 on a new computer. Are you sure you're the same Harbourboy that everyone knows? :hmm: :p

With $2500 you can get a mainstream (Dell, Gateway, etc) computer that will be perfectly able to run NWN2, along with dozens of other new games. Just watch out for the Windows Media Center Edition operating system that Dell *loves* to ship with their new computers…stick with Windows XP Professional. Also, IIRC, Dell now charges $10 for the actual Windows XP disk, which is essential in reformatting...should anything bad happen. :bad:

I got bored so I went on to Dell’s website and configured a Dimension 9150 similar to what you listed, just with the best video card available (an nVidia 7900GS), 2GB of RAM, and 2x160GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array (faster transfer rates and a useable size of 320 like you already had selected), and two optical drives…and the price was still under $1600.

I don’t know why the system you priced was so much more…maybe it’s that crazy NZ tax. :p

But I agree with BTA 100%. Wait until the new Core 2 Duo chips from Intel come out. :rolling:

Kit - according to This Site (http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi) HB's NZ$3000 equals US$1,913.54 (at least when I ran the exchange converstion). Thus, you figure there's a non-US premium being charged and the numbers come close to matching.

Apparently this new Core 2 Duo processor is the cat's meow. Everybody is recommending it. They even seem to be saying that you get much better performance for the same price compared to the older Pentium D.

However, when I looked on the Dell's site, they offer Core 2 Duo only in their higher end computers (with a 20 inch LCD display, 2 GB of Ram, etc.) This drives the price of the system up. I guess they are using the Core 2 as a lead to sell the more expensive stuff.

Also, the computers I looked at came only with the Windows Media Center Edition. They did not offer other options. What's wrong with this Media Center, anyhow? Seems to have all the features of the Home edition, at least if you believe what they say on the web site.

Yeah, remember that I am working in NZ dollars which convert the way dmc suggests. And, I didn't say I was willing to pay $3,000 - I'm trying to work out what I would have to pay in order to play this damned game. The more it's going to cost, the longer it will take me to save and therefore the longer it will be before I can play it.

However, when I looked on the Dell's site, they offer Core 2 Duo only in their higher end computers (with a 20 inch LCD display, 2 GB of Ram, etc.) This drives the price of the system up. I guess they are using the Core 2 as a lead to sell the more expensive stuff.Yeah, I just took a quick look and the cheapest Core 2 Duo system they had was ~ $1600. They are selling all current Core 2 Duo models now though (E6300- E6800), and the lowest end E6300 I believe outperforms most if not all the Pentium D's.

That's too bad, but they're probably trying to unload all the old stuff they have in inventory first, thus the cheaper models have the older processors.

Nice, I just bought a new PC and still that game seems to be working only with good luck
:rolling: *goes to get some 1Gb more memory* :rolling:

Also, the computers I looked at came only with the Windows Media Center Edition. They did not offer other options. I don't know what Dell's deal is with their current love affair with Win Media Center. WMC is geared towards multimedia...like watching TV, burning CDs/DVDs, and viewing pictures. Not the best when you want to have a gamming rig.

Yeah, remember that I am working in NZ dollars which convert the way dmc suggests. Oh yeah...I forgot about the currency difference. :bad: :rolling:

I would wait. Core 2 is at a premium right now because the resellers (Dell etc) are starving the retail market for processors which is driving up prices. That will resolve in a few months. Ignore the "D" processors. Their numbers are deceptive, they are slower than Conroe/Core 2.

Don't waste a nickel on a PhysX processor. Total waste of money.

Don't skimp on the vid card - shoot for a 79XX Nvidia card or a 18XX ATI Card.

You have 2 choices on memory - and it depends on how much video card memory you get. For a 256 MB video card you will need 2 GIG system memory. If you get a 512MG card you can get away with 1 GIG. Here is why:

I'll use Oblivion as an example since we will be seeing more resource hogging games like it (including NWN2). Oblivion uses 950 MB of system memory normally (including virtual memory). Your OS uses ~350 stripped of junk like virus protection and taskbar dingleberries. Oblivion's high res texture package normally uses 250MB from your video card.

Sometimes, it manages to load over 300MB of textures. When that happens, the difference will have to swap to System memory. With 1 GIG of system memory you are definately swapping to disk. For a video card, that is really bad for performance. Significant stuttering because it is memory starved.

So, get a 512MB card or 2 Gig of memory. Consider this: The 512MB video card is actually better since you guarrantee no texture swaps - and you simply cannot control XP's virtual memory management.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, ToddMcF2002. That helps, a bit - although I'm still not 100% clear on what the graphics card actually does.

Basically the graphics card renders the polygon structure, textures the polygons and applies shaders.

Hi res textures and shaders have been "the rage" lately requiring huge jumps in memory requirements (for the textures) and throughput via pipelines for the polys and shaders.

Other burdens for the graphics card include HDR lighting (a bloom like effect), AntiAliasing (a deinterlacing multi pass sampling to remove the "jaggies") and Anisotropic Filtering which makes distant textures crisper looking.

Yeah its all very confusing unless you keep up with it.

You were doing so well with me before you starting talking about polygons (how hard is it to draw a square?), shaders, and blooms. I think I'll just accept that graphics card does stuff to do with pictures that the normal microchip can't do for some reason.

Although it is frustrating that I need some superduper graphics engine just to play a game. It's not like I'm trying to make a Peter Jackson movie or something. I'm a home user, not Weta Worksop.

Its extremely frustrating. I've got a machine that I built myself for ~$2500 a few years back and I've since replaced the video card for an x850 XT and I can barely play Oblivion and I'm sure it will have a few issues with NWN2 unless I drop some settings.

What is even more frustrating is that 2D isometrics like ToEE, Divine Divinity and the aging Baldurs Gate 2 look totally amazing with their pre-rendered static backgrounds. Of course you can't pre-render a 3D world effectively, so you need gobs of horsepower just to approach the level of detail you get from an old 2D game.

I'm playing Divine Divinity right now on my laptop. The game was $9 and its simply beautiful to look at. My avatar's cloak sways when he walks though amazingly detailed enviroments with fantastic lighting effects etc. Runs like a dream too.

How depressing.

Are the Nvidia 7900s significantly better than the 7300s? because I think they are significantly more expensive.

You get what you pay for, yes. Don't go below 7600 if you're buying a new card and intend to keep it for a while.

My advice don't buy a Nvidia :)

The opinions for and against here are pretty much 50/50, so there's little point in arguing over the matter. Suffice it to say that both ATI and Nvidia have about the same number of very vocal fans. Personally, I rather go with Nvidia, just because their official drivers are usually much better than ATI's, where most people have to resort to unofficial ones. That, and the fact that pretty much all the games I play favour Nvidia over ATI...

I'm going to have to buy a new computer to play this game, aren't I? *reads the whole thread*

Minimum Specs: 2.4 GHz, ½ gig of RAM, Radeon 95, and Pixel Shader.Hmmm....I have 2.66 Ghz, 1.5G RAM, Radeon 9800, and a pixel shader...I should be good, right? I really don't want to buy another computer...As I did for NWN the first time!!

Well, IIRC, you didn't have to buy a new computer to play NWN, just to play it better :)

My old computer was defintely slower when I played NWN online. Transition areas would take 2-3 minutes to load....

We'll see how this one plays the new one. I'm not encouraged though - TOEE gets choppy in the later stages of the game on my pc.

2000 us dollars is a lot of money for a pc. I believe 1 usdollar is about 0.75 euro (corect me if you please)

Going even more offtopic.(looking guilty over my shoulders)

I like to add to everybody that not only the processor, but the motherboard also is a vital piece in a good pc. I have an toprated motherboard, but a weaker processor. So don't stare yourself blind at processors. They are not difficult to replace, but the motherboard is. Exampl: a new amd am2 board can use the old 64 processor which is still good enough. with a year the new big processors will drop in price (like 5 gigaherzt dualcore), still fitting on your board. new dx 10 card and you are good for a few more years. A hig end videocard in a slower system also does not work.

Oh boy, how am I ever going to know if I have the right 'motherboard'? I was just about getting the hang of this, but you've now thrown in yet another variable to consider.

They'll give you the right motherboard to go with the CPU, no worries.

"...TOEE gets choppy in the later stages of the game on my pc."

That's not a good indicator. There performance issues with that game specifically in the elemental nodes.

That's where it happens, in the elemental nodes and the fire temple. It sounds common, so I'm hoping I'll be able to play NWN2 with my current desktop. *Crosses Fingers*

In general I advise everybody who wants to upgrade to visit hardwareforums first. That way you know if the person behind the counter is honest. Really do it, it will save considerable amounts of money.

OK here's my computer's specs:

Pentium 4 CPU 2.66 GHz
256 MB RAM
128 DDR ATI Radeon 9700

With lower graphics settings I play the likes of KOTOR 2 and NWN just fine. If I bump up the graphics I get issues, but as long as I keep them low, no problems.

I keep finding conflicting info on the most up to date specs for NWN 2. Somewhere I saw the minimum was 256 MB RAM, and somewhere else I saw the min was 512 MB RAM. Which is it? Also, I swore I saw somewhere that ATI Radeon 9700 Series would be fine, but I've also seen it left off the list while 9600 and 9800 are listed. Again, which is it?

I don't care about having to turn the graphics down low. I do care about being able to play the game.

So does my computer meet the min requirements or will I need to upgrade (only if I absolutely have to)??? Money is tight. And if I did have to upgrade what price ranges are we talking here?

your pc is 3/4 years old? I would say place every penny in a piggy bank and go for a medium upgrade later.

processor: stil reasonable. 100/159 euro for simpel 3.8 (amd not intel) change the processor, means a new board (100 euro) and new memory (100 euro) This is the biggest post to pay. (all three are made for each other.)

videocard: AGP slot? if so. hard to replace due to new socket (pci express). A new agp card cost almost as much as an pci-e. to buy one for only a years use, expensive. 140 euro for a medium card. but your card just might cut it. It is a good card.

memory: as with the vidoecards old cannot be used properly on new. 90/100 euro/gig (new) You need a bit more with your current system. old memstrips like yours cost about 30 euro.

Remember fair and honest windows users that a new pc ofton needs a new windows. The oem version installed on many from the shop pc only work with that one. Smart Bill. 100 euro more.

many questionsl are still unknown. my advise is to upgrade the memory to at least 512 mb, or 1024 as max in your current machine. (In a new one at least 1024mb, and save for a new configuration suitable for games after NWN2 like Gothic 3.

Don't panic, I guess it will run on your pc, but not with 256mb mem.

(I base the prices on a medium system build by myself 2 weeks ago.)

http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/NWN2/nwn2_system_requirements.php

Those are the latest, official, requirements that have been posted. They won't be finalized until the game's out (and there may be errors or omissions there, the guy posting them has admitted as much), but this is it for now.

After a little digging I still thinkd that big B has a change with an ati 9700. A new, well what is new, 9800 stil costs around 75 euro but is very hard to find. I also found a 9600 256 md for 59 euro.
As for nvidia, a 7600gs for 119. The processor can stil cut it, but the memory not.

Unfortunately, according to my dad, the only way to upgrade my card is to get another computer. Is that correct?

No. Unless you got something wrong. Maybe your card is integrated onto the motherboard. Or maybe it's the best your mobo can handle. Maybe your dad thought replacing your GFX card in the current computer setup made no sense, which is perfectly possible.

Dell Dimension(TM) 9150 Pentium(R)D 945 w/Dual Core Desktop

Dimension(TM) 9150 Intel(R) Pentium(R) D 950 with Dual Core Processing (3.4GHz, 2X2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB) Intel(R) 945P Chipset

Operating System Genuine Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 1

Genuine Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 (English) Media

Memory 1GB (2X512) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Memory 1

Video Card 256MB PCIe(TM) x16 nVidia(R) GeForce(TM) 7300LE TurboCache(TM) w/TV-Out,VGA&DVI 1

Display 19" UltraSharp(TM) Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog & DVI) 1

Hard Drive 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with Native Command Queuing 1

Optical Drives 16X DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities 1

Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio 1

Speakers Dell(TM) A525 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer (ANZ) 1Someone owes a goldmine... :shake: Or am I completely behind the price trends?

Even if the mobo can't be upgraded or it has an integrated video card, you can remove everything and buy a new mobo/video card. Mobo's range from $50-300. For your set up it'll probably be a $100 or less Mobo since everything for the pentium series of Intel chips on the market is old junk.

It wouldn't be overly expensive to upgrade.

Well, I just went to the System Requirements Lab, and apparently everything checks except for:

1) CPU Speed: I only got 1.30 GHz

2) Video Card: 1.1 Vertex Shader, 1.3 Pixel Shader, and 32.0 MB of Video RAM

Darn it!

Don't be fooled by the sites that will test your system to see if it can run a specific game,(system requirements lab) (NWN2)...I did this and it said my system was middle srength to run it, yet with everything turned down to min I still get choppy unplayable game time.

Careful with that SirChet - some of the problems aren't actually with your system. YesterdayI was running the game at high grahpics no coppiness to speak of - and today I could barely move it was so laggy when I started over.


I think whatever language they programmed NWN2 in, they may have left memory leaks... (basically memory that gets used and when it's over with doesn't get cleared, when a loop does it a few billion times, memory starts becoming scarce and the computer as a whole will slow down until the program crashes from lack of memory).

I haven't actually crashed and I saved/restarted enough I may have avoided the problem, but I'm defiantely feeling more lag now than before and I'm running at lower settings than yesterday.

I think whatever language they programmed NWN2 in, they may have left memory leaks... (basically memory that gets used and when it's over with doesn't get cleared, when a loop does it a few billion times, memory starts becoming scarce and the computer as a whole will slow down until the program crashes from lack of memory).I think it's all languages of Nth level now, meaning they make stuff in compilers compiled in other compiles, which have been compiled in something still different and so on and so forth. After using N generators of this and that, you have a game made in a generator made in a generator made in a generator. Basically think about the performance of a painfully simple game made in Click & Play or games factory that has to drag all the libraries along. Memory leaks are the last thing they can avoid because it piles up all the way down from the least advanced generator and they just don't have the time (or incentive - with all the memory players are expected to have on their systems) to fix it. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

All high level languages are compiled in at least 5 compilers started at machine language, to assembly, etc. etc. etc. Memory Leaks are unnacceptable on the corporate level of products. That's like releasing a car with a hole in the gas tank.

It was only a guess though, there could be any number of smaller issues that could 'cause the same amount of lag in the game for no good reason.

I'm not sure I can upgrade the video card as I have a laptop. I've never heard of anyone removing the motherboard from a laptop.

you can SCKnight, but imho let the manufacteres do it. cause most likely ou break something yourself.

For what it's worth, in my experience the CPU speed is not the bottleneck of the game. While it doesn't take advantage of dual-core processors, it consistently uses only 50-70%% of a single die on a 3.6 Pentium D, leaning towards the low end of that range.